Catholic High Schools (HSPT)

Location

Many Catholic high schools in the Chicago area (including St. Ignatius and Loyola Academy), require that students sit for the HSPT exam at the school they hope to attend. For example, Loyola Academy will not admit students who take the HSPT at St. Ignatius.

Schedule

For the past few years, the HSPT has been administered on the first Saturday in December. There is only one test date.

For more information, visit the Archdiocese of Chicago or the website of the specific school in which you are interested.

Content and Timing of the HSPT

The test has five sections, and it moves very quickly. Students are given a short amount of time relative to the number of questions presented in each section, so they must pace themselves appropriately.

Essays

Although the HSPT does not include an essay portion, some Catholic schools will add their own essay question to the test. Students should be prepared to write a short essay either about a personal topic or about a debatable social issue.

Scoring

Most schools do not necessarily expect students to achieve scores in the highest percentiles. Students are often admitted based on HSPT scores at or above the 80th percentile.